{"id":29774,"date":"2016-11-18T12:33:59","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T01:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=29774"},"modified":"2021-03-02T17:02:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T06:02:44","slug":"from-the-archives-the-americanisation-of-champ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2016\/11\/from-the-archives-the-americanisation-of-champ\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Archives: The Americanisation of Champ!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ever since I saw her gallop the Aachen Grand Prix course on Starman, forward and flowing, making mockery of the fearsome natural hedges and awesome water, Anne Kursinski has been one of my favorite showjumping riders. We were lucky to catch up with Anne at Rotterdam back in 2008 and watch her school what was to be her last international jumping star, Champ…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Story Chris Hector Pix Ros Neave, Werner Ernst<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"champwalk\"<\/strong>For all it is true that as the world \u2018s top jumping horses get more and more similar in type, and that the world \u2018s top riders increasingly share an international style, you only have to watch Anne Kursinski warming up her new star, Champ, to realise that there is still something very very American about Anne\u2019s way of schooling a horse. It is even more noticeable because the Holsteiner stallion, by Chamonix out of a mare by Coronada (that\u2019s a cross of Cor de la Bryere top and bottom with a dash of Lord thrown in) is really a very big German style of horse.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Anne the \u2018Americanisation\u2019 of Champ is still a work in progress, but he appreciated the way of riding right from the start…<\/p>\n

\u201cChamp is new, I just started riding him in January, so we\u2019ve come together a lot in a short time. I like lots of stretching and relaxation – he came from a big German rider and felt like he\u2019d been in draw reins.<\/p>\n

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He felt kind of stuck<\/em><\/p>\n

He felt kind of stuck, so I tried to get him to be looser and more athletic, and more natural and happy. I don\u2019t like a lot of dominance when I ride, it\u2019s more being one with the horse. Not that I don\u2019t have discipline, and I do my basic dressage, but at the same time I like a lot of stretching and asking them to be gymnastic- not the cavalry approach, DO the exercises- keep them natural like they would be in the paddock.\u201d\"champ6\"<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially to even get him to stretch, to do a long and low naturally, took him some time. I think he is changing his muscles even though I haven\u2019t been riding him so long. Now I\u2019m feeling his back relax and stretch. Now he knows that it is okay. Initially he would be a bit defensive- oh no, I can\u2019t possibly stick my head down and out, that\u2019s not allowed, but he is getting it.<\/p>\n

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What I aim to do is establish self carriage, so they can carry themselves… I stroke them on the neck a bit, work them on a loose rein, but I want that they can still hold their shape, but on very light reins. And that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing with Champ, even though he\u2019s a very big German horse- like Starman (Anne\u2019s Grand Prix of Aachen winner), he was a very similar horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

more follows<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s a heavier horse than Starman, but I think he will change a little. It doesn\u2019t matter if he doesn\u2019t, but I think he will. I think carrying himself and going looser will help. It\u2019s even hard for him to learn to go fast, I think for sure he\u2019ll get it, but he has been used to always being packaged, always being contained. Yet when I tried him in Germany, at the end of last summer, when I did drop his head and let him go, he exploded. He liked it. He jumped very well that way but he is a little shy about it- \u2018oh you are supposed to be doing something up there\u2019 – and I\u2019m saying \u2018no, no, no, you are supposed to be doing it.<\/p>\n

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You can carry yourself and you can stretch your neck, and you can hold your own balance, I don\u2019t have to do it for you.\u201d\u2019\"kursinskichampcomp\"<\/p>\n

Because of your success with Starman, you were one of the riders who switched American riders onto European horses and off the Thoroughbreds, do you feel sad at what you have done?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne laughs. \u201cOh no, no, no. After Starman, my next horse was Eros, an Australian Thoroughbred , who was very different of course, just the lighter the better. But when you turn a horse out on a paddock or you free jump them, they don\u2019t have somebody pulling their head down, or jerking their head from side to side, German horses or Thoroughbred horses, or whatever- they can do it without the human being. So I think Champ will learn to be lighter and quicker, all by himself without me forcing it. He doesn\u2019t need some big guy up there saying \u2018now turn, now go, now slow down\u2019, he can go well with more natural riding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"eros\"<\/p>\n

Eros<\/em><\/p>\n

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You had a background riding Thoroughbred horses, was it a shock when you started riding Starman?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, because again, he liked the American way. Astrid Winkler who found him for me, really thought he would go well the American way, and hadn\u2019t been so great with the previous rider who was much more of a German rider. When I dropped his mouth and let Starman go, he really loved it, he loved long reins. I think Champ will learn that too. I am toying with the idea of riding Champ in a gag. I have him in a Pelham, because he is a big strong horse, he has a big neck but he has a nice mouth – I school him in the plain snaffle and he is very nice, yet I feel like if I really kick him to the water or something, he could get strong, but I think maybe one day, I will jump him in a snaffle. Starman went in a snaffle, in a gag at the end, but he also had a nice mouth. I\u2019m toying with getting Champ in a gag, a little more freedom, but because he is big and strong, I also need to know he will slow down.\u201d\"starman\"<\/p>\n

Starman<\/em><\/p>\n

So it was more the European horses adapting to the American way of riding than vice versa…<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI think so. Even Meredith (Michaels-Beerbaum) – look at her today, her horses are hot- not that she doesn\u2019t sit back and have longer reins in a sense, but she is still a little person, she is still light, and those horses have adapted to her – they are Thoroughbred types, and hot as can be. I think it is the German Warmbloods going more the American way. Of course it is a matter of finding the right German horse. I really felt when I tried Champ last year, I thought after just the little bit I did on him, that he had Olympic scope. There are some that you drop their heads and let them go, and they are completely lost, but at the jump he figured it out in a couple of jumps, and said \u2018oh this is good\u2019 and even the German who had him thought he was jumping better with my technique of letting him go and letting him gallop -just for the horse to say, \u2018I can really do that, and it is okay\u2019. He is learning very quickly. It is a bit of a shock that we made the list to hopefully go on to the Olympics. Every class we are\u00a0learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"annewater\"<\/p>\n

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Champ hits the big time at Aachen<\/em><\/p>\n

Is it becoming more of a fusion style? I watch Ludger Beerbaum school, no stirrups, the horse perfectly straight in a snaffle bit, very clean engaged, athletic work, it could have been an American rider – are the styles fusing?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI think so. You can still see different styles to a point, but nothing like it used to be years ago. Then you could pick the Germans, the French, the Americans, the Italians… they were really stamped. Bertalan de Nemethy, our American coach, was a Cavalry Officer from Europe, but came to the States and dealt with American Thoroughbreds, the light seat and the foxhunting were our system. The Germans were riding heavy horses, horses bred from carriage horses, and they had a much deeper seat, but now I think with the horses changing so much, and again, the breeds have all changed so much – there is so much Thoroughbred in the German horse now that the styles have adapted and they are all a little closer than they used to be. And I think that is nicer for the horses\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

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Breeding Jumping Horses? Consider Check out all the top European bloodlines – like Diacontinus – currently available from IHB, go to<\/strong><\/em><\/span> www.ihb.com.au<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Kursinski, Anne<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n